Fukushima fire, radiation cause workers to evacuate plant

Fukushima fire: The fire that began on Tuesday has led to extreme radiation leaks that have forced officials to withdraw all crews from the nuclear plant. The Fukushima fire can not be confirmed to still be burning in the now-unmanned plant.

ByEric Talmadge and Shino Yuasa, Associated PressMarch 15, 2011

Fukushima fire leads to plant evacuation: A woman in Osaka reads an extra edition of a newspaper reporting high levels of radiation detected at the quake-hit Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, Tuesday. After a rapid rise of radiation levels, workers were evacuated from the crippled nuclear power plant, Wednesday, leaving no one to cool the reactors.

Experts say exposure of around 1,000 millisieverts is enough to cause radiation sickness.

Earlier officials said 70 percent of fuel rods at one of the six reactors at the plant were significantly damaged in the aftermath of Friday's calamitous earthquake and tsunami.

News reports said 33 percent of fuel rods were also damaged at another reactor. Officials had said they would use helicopters and fire trucks to spray water in a desperate effort to prevent further radiation leaks and to cool down the reactors.

Authorities have tried frantically since the earthquake and tsunami to avert an environmental catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex in northeastern Japan, 170 miles (270 kilometers) north Tokyo.

The government has ordered some 140,000 people in the vicinity to stay indoors. A little radiation was also detected in Tokyo, 150 miles (240 kilometers) to the south and triggered panic buying of food and water.

There are six reactors at the plant, and three that were operating at the time have been rocked by explosions. The one still on fire was offline at the time of the magnitude 9.0 quake, Japan's most powerful on record.